


Slow It Down

by twohearts



Series: Autistic Kara Stories [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Kara Danvers, F/F, I don't know I think it counts as romantic, Sensory Overload
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25767499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twohearts/pseuds/twohearts
Summary: Nia helps Kara through sensory overload.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Nia Nal
Series: Autistic Kara Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869307
Comments: 8
Kudos: 110





	Slow It Down

**Author's Note:**

> I'm dipping my toe into writing something romantic with a ship I really adore. 
> 
> This is set in the vague future where things with Lex are taken care of and the Super Friends are all working together in the Tower.

Everything was moving a little too fast. This was almost amusing given that as someone with super speed, everything usually moved too slow. In the corner of her eye, Kara could see Brainy typing away at his computer. He was moving too fast. He was moving at normal speed, but he was moving too fast.

She turned her head. The lights were too bright. And now she could hear Brainy’s fingers tapping at the keys. It made her twitch, each tap hitting like a hammer banging down a nail.

Kara looked down at her papers. They were notes for upcoming articles, scribbled out in her own hand. She wanted to tear them up. At least then the letters wouldn’t seem to jump off the page at her. They were important notes though, so that was probably a bad idea.

She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. It was soft and she could faintly smell the shampoo she used. It was supposed to be unscented.

Her headphones were at her apartment and though they would be nice, Kara had the sneaking suspicion that she was already too far-gone for them to be entirely effective. Instead she closed her eyes and laid back into the cushion of her chair.

The Tower was not the best place to sleep. It was meant to be used for work, for action, and getting into the habit of sleeping at work was bad for many reasons. But the world was being loud and bright and just a little too fast, and there hadn’t been a single emergency all day.

She could still hear Brainy working, but it had faded. Less a hammer and now more the dull swish of wind through air. Kara breathed. In and out. In and out.

That was when the alarm went off.

Kara, quite literally, jumped into the air, and through pure instinct remained hovering as Brainy and J’onn leapt to action.

“Supergirl?” J’onn raised a single green brow. “Are you alright?”

No was what Kara wanted to say. But J’onn was giving her a look. His red eyes seemed softer somehow, downturned at the edges.

He wanted the answer to be yes, she thought.

“It’s a fire.” Nia’s voice rang through the Tower and Kara had to fight the instinct to cover her ears.

“J’onn, you can handle a fire, correct?” Brainy stood over the console.

“Of course.” J’onn’s voice was gruff, like a soldier receiving orders. But his eyes were on Kara, still soft.

“Thanks, J’onn.” Nia entered through a side room, answering for the rest of them.

J’onn nodded and flew off without another word.

Kara let her feet touch the ground.

“Can we turn the lights off?” She asked without thinking.

The lights dimmed. Thank goodness Brainy had upgraded the Tower’s computer.

“Okay.” She said, more to herself than anyone else.

“Do you want to go home, Kara?” Nia had moved in closer. She was still in her civilian clothes, press badge clipped to her lapel.

“No.” It was too quick an answer, said entirely without thinking. It was the answer she would have given if someone at work had asked her, maybe even if J’onn had asked her.

But this was Nia.

“Yes.” Kara whispered.

“Brainy, will you be okay here alone?” Nia asked.

“J’onn should return in approximately thirty three minutes.”

“Good.”

Nia hovered one hand over Kara’s shoulder and guided her towards the door.

They didn’t turn on the lights in Kara’s loft. They walked slowly, almost methodically, to Kara’s couch as the last rays of daylight broke through the curtains. When they sat, Kara laid her head back into the cushions and Nia moved with a practiced ease to fully close the curtains. The room wasn’t that much darker for Nia’s effort, but Kara appreciated it nonetheless.

A moment passed with Kara on the couch and Nia beside her, still standing and unsure what step to take. But soon enough Kara’s hand darted out from under the pillow on her lap and patted the seat beside her.

Nia spoke as quietly as possible, knowing Kara would hear her clearly. “You want to sleep?”

A moment of silence.

“Not really.” Kara’s voice was stunted.

“You want me to stay?”

Nia waited. She would wait as long as Kara needed.

But Kara was quick with this reply.

“Yes.” Her voice was still weak. “But not so close.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Nia hopped up and grimaced as the wood creaked beneath her feet.

Kara had slumped back into the couch. She was clearly not asleep. Her shoulders were still too rigged and her breathing not quite even; it was almost like playing pretend, trying to convince herself to sleep or that sleep was even possible.

“It’s fine.” She muttered. Words were not ideal right now.

“You don’t need to talk.” Nia said. She’d taken a few steps back towards Kara’s table. “I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

Kara hummed in response and let herself slide farther back into the cushions. The softness cradled her as she let one breath pass into the next.

Kara didn’t sleep for the next three hours. She lay on the couch with her eyes closed and didn’t move. Sleep was good. It was nice. But it was not what she needed.

Instead, she focused on her breathing. She focused on Nia, who she could hear sitting at the table, trying to make as little noise as possible. She was probably scrolling through her phone. Maybe reading an e-book or the news. Perhaps doing research for an article of her own.

The familiarity of it all was nice and Kara let that wash over her as her head finally began to clear. She gave an experimental blink. It was darker now. What little light had been coming through the curtains was gone. That was probably for the best.

She lifted her head and felt the rest of her body rise with her, until she was standing on her own two feet without the support of the couch. Still, she didn’t open her eyes for more than a moment. It was enough to blink and find the world still there.

“Hey.” Nia’s voice was soft and Kara could hear the floorboards’ gentle creak as Nia crossed the room.

“Hey.” Kara mouthed. The words were still stuck in her throat.

“Can I touch you?”

Kara nodded.

“Hard or soft?”

Kara held up one finger and Nia enveloped her in a tight hug.

“Okay?”

Kara nodded again.

Nia was good at this. The tight hugs. The quiet. Kara couldn’t be sure if it came easy to her, but she was very good at it.

Kara took a deep breath, summoning the words that were swimming around in her head. All that came out though was.

“Dinner?”

Nia nodded into Kara’s shoulder. Her hair smelled faintly of lilacs. “Take out?”

Kara wrapped a hand around Nia. Soft fabric enveloped Kara’s hand as she rubbed circles into Nia’s back.

“Pizza and a movie?”

Kara had to laugh. It was cliché and perfect.

“It’s a work night.” The words tumbled out of Kara’s mouth.

Nia’s hands were on Kara’s cheeks.

“We can go to bed early.”

“Or we can fall asleep on the couch to the soothing sounds of Imagine Me and You.”

“Sounds perfect.”


End file.
